Impulse Response Guitar Download

[Jen Ondrey]

Many modern Cab Sim Pedals such as the TC Electronic Impulse and Two Notes Torpedo C.A.B. M+ feature IR loading, making using IRs easier than ever. You can simply carry all of your favourite presets on your pedalboard.

To put it simply, convolution reverb refers to the simulation of a reverb, echo or the sonic quality of a space using impulse responses. As described earlier, a short sound is played, with the response then being measured and recorded, then recreated using algorithms. Popular convolution reverb plugins include Logic Pro X Space Designer, Waves IR1 and Space by Avid.

As mentioned earlier, convolution reverb is the simulation of ambience using an impulse response. Algorithmic reverb is totally artificial, recreating the effect of ambience by simulating natural echoes, EQ, decay times and other elements.

Click on a cabinet below and browse our extensive collection of impulse responses, including: Marshall, Budda, Mesa, Orange, EVH and many more! Purchase our bundle packs for added savings on our top cab models. See for yourself what sets our cab IRs apart from the rest.

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From a practical standpoint, impulse responses let you instantly recall your favorite speaker/mic/room combo. You can use them both for live shows and in the studio to retain the essential qualities of your tone.

In very general terms, an impulse response (IR) is the measurement of an output reacting to a short burst of input signal (the impulse). Convolution reverbs have been using impulse responses for quite some time to generate their sounds.

Taking an IR of actual acoustic environment, convolution reverb plugins then digitally recreate the sound of that space. The idea is the same with guitar cabinet and microphone IRs; an engineer can capture the sonic fingerprint of a physical rig and then reproduce it digitally.

Impulse responses are typically saved as generic WAV files. Lots of different companies, producers, and artists put out their own impulse responses which allow you to recreate their sound. You can even make your own IRs should you feel so inclined.

Swedish producer/engineer Jens Bogren has worked with some of the most influential bands in metal, including Opeth, Katatonia, Dimmu Borgir, Between the Buried and Me, Dark Tranquility, Amon Amarth, Ihsahn, and many more. His company Bogren Digital produces impulse responses of his go-to metal rhythm guitar chain, including all the incredible outboard equipment he uses.

Joey Sturgis is another producer/engineer working primarily in the metalcore scene with bands like Asking Alexandria, The Devil Wears Prada, Miss May I, and more. JST makes impulse response packs, drum samples, mixing plugins, and guitar/bass amp plugins.

Celestion, one of the most trusted names in guitar speakers, offers a complete digital IR collection of their speakers. Everything from the beloved V30 to the A-Type and everything in between. You can shop in bundles, or shop per speaker.

Eminence is another huge name in speakers who produces IRs of their physical equipment. Likewise, the Eminence Digital shop lets you purchase individual speakers or collections containing multiple speakers.

OwnHammer is another premier source of guitar and bass speaker cabinet emulations. They have all sorts of classics like Fender and Marshall IRs, but their real unique collections are those catering to down-tuned and modern progressive metal players.

Last but not least is the Tone Junkie IR store, featuring a modest but high-quality selection of speakers and cabinets. Many of their speaker IRs are taken straight out of vintage amplifiers so you can add some retro authenticity to your sound.

When talking about modeling, there are two things that usually get modeled: 1. the guitar amp, and 2. the speaker cabinet. Only the latter is modeled by an impulse response, which means that the cabinet is simply represented by an LTI system and implemented by convolution. This is of course an approximation but it works fairly well. You can find a lot of such measured impulse responses on the internet.

As for the guitar amps, there is no such thing as an "impulse response guitar amp simulator". As mentioned in the comments and in Marcus Mller's answer, guitar amps are much too complicated to be modeled by a simple impulse response. They are non-linear and dynamical, and the corresponding digital models are quite complex. There's a good reason why the big players in amp modeling (Kemper, Fractal Audio Systems, Line6) do not publish their modeling algorithms.

There are two basic approaches to modeling of nonlinear analog circuits: 1. black-box models, which only try to emulate a measured input-output relationship using a set of test signals, and 2. white-box models, which try to simulate the actual analog circuit in all details.You can read a good summary of the basics in A Review of Digital Techniques for Modeling Vacuum-Tube Guitar Amplifiers.

If you're an EE student, you will have encountered the term LTI System (or you certainly will soon enough!): A system that, no matter the absolute time, outputs, given the same input, the same output; if you scale the input by a factor, the output is scaled by the same factor. Linear, time-invariant, so to speak.

I'm recording a guitar to my DAW. It's a clean signal. Then I apply an amp and Impulse Response signals I like. I heard that IR's should be applied after amp. What about effects like chorus, flanger, reverb etc. Should I apply them after or before IR?

I noticed that when I apply effects before IR's then things like reverb and chorus last longer. That's probably because the IR is applied on all the signal affected by reverb and chorus and it becomes kind of overwhelming then.

Convolving a signal with an impulse response recorded from a (linear) signal processing system (or component) such as a reverb effect, or an acoustic room, corresponds to running the signal through the actual system (or component) from which the impulse response was recorded.

As far as I understand, your question is, "In which order should I connect these things in a signal chain: (1) preamp, (2) effect, (3) power-amp, (4) cabinet? Should I put my effects between the preamp and power-amp, or should I run the cabinet microphone's signal through the effects?" This question could be answered just as well in a purely "real hardware" situation, where you only have actual physical hardware. How would you connect the components? You have to clarify to yourself the conceptual role of each of your software components.

(Theoretical mumbo-jumbo. If the components you call "effects" are linear and time-invariant, i.e. if they don't add any nonlinearities like distortion or modulate their parameters over time, then in theory, the order of processing should not matter, because convolution with an impulse response is a linear time-invariant system. And linear time-invariant systems can be connected in any order without affecting the final result. But if the effects are nonlinear or time-variant, i.e. if they add nonlinearities to the signal, or if they modulate their characteristics over time, then the order of processing does matter in theory. Whether any of this matters in practice however, is a different question.)

If the amp simulator that you imply is only used as a preamp (for overdrive/coloration) also includes cabinet simulation, then you are virtually running your signal through two cabinets in series. Which most probably sounds bad.

Let's be honest - the guitar tones in my videos leave A LOT to be desired. So, educate me on IR loaders - which is the best for general reverb use? Which is the best for guitar cabs? Is there a difference? What makes one better than the other?

Thafknar and Impulsation are the only AU ones. Thafknar is the only one of those two that is universal. End of story as far as I'm concerned. I have Impulsation but see no reason to use it over Thafknar.

Applying IR to audio is pretty much a fixed mathematical operation as far as I know. It isn't like hardware that introduces coloration of its own, or like the different algorithms in filters, etc. So, unless I saw one using less CPU over another or something, I don't care.

BTW, if you're considering reverbs, AudioReverb might be worth adding to the list. It's a hybrid, using IR for realism in the early reflections, combined with algorithmic reverb for the rest of the sound. It's always been one of my favorite reverbs.

Thanks @wim but this is less about Reverbs (Lord knows I have a TON of those...) and more about IR Loaders specifically. I'm looking to improve my knowledge around building virtual guitar tones, however if I were to get one I know I've got a number of IR rooms from my PC that I could repurpose, so ideally it would be good at both.

@royor I'd forgotten about the JAX one. I think they make good apps, but I have a hard time with their interface. Between iFX Rack and Impulsation, I'd get Impulsation only because I have no need for a multi-effects box. I already have too many dang effects!

If you're iPadOS only then my vote goes for Impulsation because of it's ease of use and AUv3 functionality. The menu, the good dry to wet ratio control (meaning there's crazy range of minute degrees of dry to wet signal vs. that phenomenon of being past 20% and everything sounds like it's in a cave.), the UI is nice and importing IR's is simple. I use it for both reverb and in conjunction with guitar amp sims for cabinet IR's. Plus there's a great filter section in the stand alone version. The iFX rack from Gospel Musicians has an IAP version of Impulsation too.

I know iConvolver is @flo26's IR loader of choice but I have never used it. From his videos there are what looks to be some pretty stout controls on it, but as I say I've never used it. For me Impulsation is just working great, and I think it may still be on sale as I write this.

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